Notes On Tim Lincecum Showcase

Did you miss Tim Lincecum’s showcase today? Despair not — Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area has uploaded the full video right here. He also has the story on Lincecum’s day. The two-time Cy Young winner says that he’s “simplified” things on the mound. “It just feels more consistent,” he said. “… I’m not searching for that extra gear to try and throw harder anymore.” Check here and here for teams that were reportedly set to attend.

Here are some more notes on the 31-year-old’s outing:

In terms of results, Eric Longenhagen of ESPN.com writes that Lincecum showed reasonably well, but didn’t exactly do anything to suggest that he’s the ace of old. He was visibly fit, sat in the upper-80s to low-90s with his fastball (topping out at 92), and presented three useful offspeed pitches, but it doesn’t seem that any of his offerings look ready to dominate major league hitters. For Longenhagen, Lincecum looks more like a reliever and spot starter than a regular rotation piece.

As for next steps, Lincecum may well have a deal sooner than later. Jon Heyman of MLB Network hears organizations are “lining up” (Twitter link). And Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the righty’s camp thinks a contract could come together by the end of the weekend. Meanwhile, Jon Morosi of MLB Network suggests on Twitter that Lincecum’s timeline could allow him to reach a major league rotation before the end of the month, but from my perspective that looks to be a rather optimistic scenario for a pitcher who’s coming off of hip surgery (if he’s even able to secure a firm offer of a rotation opportunity).

Lincecum himself said he’s prepared to field interest from all quarters, as Pavlovic reported in the above-linked piece. “I think I know there are other teams [besides the Giants] out there that are looking for starters right now and I wouldn’t have to go to Triple-A and have to work my way behind somebody,” Lincecum said. “To be honest with you I’d rather start, but I know I need to get timing with others hitters in the box and work my way through it that way.” While suggesting that he has some preferences in mind, Lincecum did say that he hasn’t decided what’s the most important to me right now.”

The veteran righty also chatted with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitterlinks), saying that he didn’t feel that staying on the west coast was strictly necessary. He added that he’s only interested in one-year arrangements, though frankly it would be surprising if organizations had much inclination to go beyond that anyway.

Whether or not Lincecum has any slight preferences to stay out west, we already know that the Giants have at least some interest in considering him as a swingman. Shea adds that the Angels have “legitimate interest,” too, and that the Dodgers are also “in the mix.” Of course, it seems likely that Lincecum and his representatives will be looking to land with an organization that will commit to giving him a chance to start, and that will be based in large part on individual teams’ scouting assessments — making it difficult to handicap things at present.

Steve Adams and I chatted about Lincecum on today’s MLBTR podcast, which obviously occurred before he took the mound. But I’d say that our thoughts remain relevant after his showing today, which did more to suggest he’s recovered well from the hip procedure than to indicate any hope that he’ll reverse the fall-off that came well before it.

Sal Maglie had been a very successful pitcher for the Giants in the early 50’s….but got old. “The Barber” went to the Dodgers in 1956 and at the age of 39, compiled a 13-5 record for Brooklyn and helped propel the “Bums into the WS, where he won game one, and was on the hill when Don Larsen threw his perfect game in a 2-0 NY victory.

Angels need him the most. Wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t to the Angels. Also see him going to the Giants or Dodgers. All three teams will push for him and Giants might have the advantage because of the past and the fact they let him use their facility to rehab.

Watched a little of the video. The stuff doesn’t look bad but a starter with that velocity is going to struggle his second and third times through the order. Teams rarely employ swingmen or multi-inning relievers anymore but that would seem to be where his future is. I don’t quite understand his pig-headedness about starting – I understand pride and starters make a lot more money, but Lincecum has already made 100 million dollars playing baseball. (I was surprised at that number too!)

Why do people think he’s going to be any good? He’s still sitting around 90mph on the fb, which is where he was at when he started to suck as opposed to the upper 90s he was at when he was a cy young winner. His stuff is still as diminished as when he began sucking so I’m not sure how people expect this dude to just all of a sudden be good again.

Given what’s been written up about his showcase, I don’t see how any team would be willing to offer him a starting pitching job right away, the ESPN article was pretty clear that he’s at best a reliever, and no better than what he’s been the past few years, from the view of the outside world.

And if the best he’s going to get is a relief job, then I don’t see how he don’t end up with the Giants, since they have been up front about how interested they are in him, and appear willing to offer him the long relief job, and intimated that should circumstances change, other roles as well, implying he could be a starter if needed as well. With Peavy and Cain scuffling right now, with no end in sight, he could be a starter sooner than later if he rejoined the Giants.